Patients, medical professionals and purveyors of medical marijuana from across the New England and the country filled the Saxe Room at the Worcester Public Library Wednesday afternoon for the state Department of Public Health’s first “listening session” on its medical marijuana regulations.

Officials from the DPH listened to people from across the region talk about their concerns — personal, professional, economic and safety — as the state crafts its medical marijuana regulations. Those who crowded into the room represented a broad mix of opinions and lifestyles from those in support of medical marijuana and those opposed.

The use of medical marijuana was approved by voters in the November 2012 election. The law went into effect Jan. 1, and as of that date a doctor can prescribe medical marijuana for a patient, and with that prescription, a patient can begin growing marijuana at home. The state Department of Public Health has until May 1 to establish guidelines for dispensaries, treatment centers and other regulations for medical marijuana.

The law allows for 35 dispensaries across the state with at least one per county.

The listening sessions do not take the place of a public hearing on the regulations; rather they are to receive input from the public on issues such as patient eligibility, physician training, dispensary operations and security, the definition of a 60-day supply, the use of medical marijuana in food and hardship cultivations.

“We are committed to developing a program that ensures access to those people who need medical marijuana, but we also need to make sure that we have regulations that promote the health and well-being of all those in the commonwealth that are not part of the program,” said Laura Smith, interim director of the state DPH. “We need something that ensures appropriate access and balances our responsibility to protect and promote the health and well-being of all residents through a safe and secure program.”

Those interested in speaking were asked to sign in and were then called to a table in groups of three to offer their testimony, which was kept at a strict three-minute limit. They came as a trio of city officials, as a married couple to speak of the relief medical marijuana provides them and the relief they have been able to help others achieve; they came in wheelchairs and they came with canes; they came as cancer survivors and sufferers of rare diseases; they came as doctors, nurses and legal marijuana providers. Some came wearing their opinions on their sleeve — some with shirts bearing a marijuana leaf or a hat with a marijuana logo — others sat, surrounded by the smell of stale marijuana smoke.

Dr. Michael P. Hirsh, the city of Worcester’s acting health commissioner and president of the Worcester District Medical Society, said the medical community is concerned that marijuana has no standard medical dosing or has gone through testing other recognized drugs go through. He said marijuana is not a drug that can easily be prescribed and that its efficacy hasn’t been medically proven.

For people like Jerry Smith, Lee Smith, Ellen Lenox Smith (none related) and Eliza Quill, the ability to resume their lives is all the proof they need.

Jerry Smith, 43, of Fall River, was left paralyzed from the waist down following an automobile accident in 2008. He is in a wheelchair and was on 20 medications daily.

“The medications left me lethargic, bed-bound and I had no quality of life,” Jerry Smith said. “This has given me my life back. It has given me the opportunity to be a dad again.”

Patient advocates also asked the DPH to make sure privacy measures were in place to protect patients, and others urged the use of medical marijuana and its dosage be a decision made between patient and doctor.

Property owners spoke of the impact medical marijuana would have on designated no-smoking rental properties.

Worcester City Councilor Konstantina B. Lukes urged the DPH to proceed with caution. She said she was concerned with the impact dispensaries will have on local communities, such as Worcester, and reminded the DPH that its regulations will be competing with an already established industry.

Derek Brindisi, director of public health in Worcester, asked the DPH to craft regulations give local municipalities the ability to create strict local regulations and bylaws. In addition, he said he had serious concerns about the how marijuana food products will be regulated.

Among the speakers from the business of medical marijuana was Bruce Bedrick, CEO of Medbox, the nation’s first biometric medical marijuana dispensing machine.

The Medbox Inc. system is an armored, automated and biometrically controlled dispensing and storage system for medicine and merchandise. Medbox is used by Kind Clinics LLC, a medical marijuana dispensary support company that provides behind the counter machines and licensing services for cannabis-based health products.

Mr. Bedrick’s brief comments were met with applause as he told state officials the adoption of the medical marijuana law was a huge step in state’s rights and patients’ rights.

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